Analysis of advertising in Arabic

Abstract

The concept of advertising has existed since thousands of years and has evolved and matured together with our civilisations. Nowadays, modem advertising and its individual intriguing parts have developed to become a principle tool of marketing, a driver of free-market economy. Advertisements are well-versed rhetoric bits of information and bound by cultural forces, so as to produce interpretations. Culture sensitivity has become an increasingly important issue since companies ventured out of their national borders in the hope of tapping new pastures. Many scholars argue that there is a need for improved sociocultural awareness in our global economies. This dissertation presents an examination of the discourse of Arabic advertising in television and motion picture advertising. Whilst the principle focus is the linguistic analysis of advertising, it cannot always be viewed in isolation but in complex interaction with the commercial's layout and images. Furthermore, it seeks to investigate the relationship between traditional advertising discourse and the cultural discourse of the Arab people. In order to conduct a corpus-based study, material was extracted principally from two Arabic television stations. The analysis of the language employed in the commercials looks into the usage of diverse linguistic strategies and the exploitation of rhetorical devices in the process of creating a form of inferential communication; thus, producing the desired effect from the viewers. The identification of particular visual content forms an integral part of the analysis and is seen as a powerful tool to capture attention and reinforce concepts. It also assesses the relationship between text and context for its cultural suitability. This process compels the dissertation to look into the pragmatic and sociocultural perspectives. Through the effective use of standardized or vernacular language, solely, or in a code-switching process, the copywriter associates himself with the viewer and asserts membership to the group.